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Friday, February 07, 2014

Union Jacked

A guest post by Y. Bloch
Let's talk about the United Kingdom--no, not the one with the scones
and Beefeaters (sorry, I'm eating breakfast). Here in the Holy Land we
had a United Kingdom three millennia ago, featuring such famous kings as
David and Solomon, the lions of Judah. But it was Saul, the wolf of
Benjamin, who actually united the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

This is
in keeping with Benjamin's image throughout the Torah. Joseph is
reconciled with the Judah and his brothers by their shared desire to
protect young Benjamin. As for the tribe, we see the first hint of its
unifying force in this week's Torah portion, Tetzaveh, as
interpreted by the Jerusalem Talmud. The Torah states that the High
Priest (I'd prefer Prime Minister, but whatever) wears an onyx on each
shoulder of his vestments:

Take two onyx stones and
engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel in the order of their
birth—six of their names on one stone and the names of the remaining six
on the other.

The Jerusalem Talmud (Sota 7:4) states:

Said Rabbi Johanan: "Benjamin was split: 'Ben' on one and 'Jamin' on the other."
Said Rabbi Zebida: "Indeed! Does it say: their six names? No, it says, 'six of their names'--part of their names, not all of their names."

So
Benjamin is quite literally the uniter; you need to put the two stones
together to read his name. This is true not only in rocks, but in dirt
as well: once the Israelites cross the Jordan, Benjamin receives the
critical territory in the center of the country, bridging Judah in the
south, Joseph in the north, Gad in the east and Dan in the west.

In
fact, Saul is neither the first nor the last of the wolf pack to unite
the tribes. The period of the Judges begins in earnest with Benjamite
Ehud ben Gera and his successor Shamgar ben Anat, ushering in an
unequaled eighty-year Pax Judicia. Similarly, the post-exilic period is
ushered in by Benjamites Mordecai and Esther (whose family tree shares
many names with Saul's), who institute Purim, a new holiday to be
celebrated, quite literally, by Jews far and near. In fact, Mordecai is
the first person to be labelled "the Jew" even though his paternal line
does not go back to Judah.

Thus, we see that Benjamin symbolizes
unity and unification. The lone son of Jacob to be born in the Holy
Land, the lone son to be innocent of sin in the Joseph episode (as well
as any other wrongdoing, according to Talmud Shabbat 55b) fathers the tribe which creates the United Kingdom of Israel and later sticks with Judah when the Ten Tribes split off.

That's
what makes the episode of the Concubine of Gibeah so shocking. The Book
of Judges ends with the story of this brutal gang rape and murder. The
Israelites want the perpetrators, from the Benjamite town of Gibeah, to
be brought to justice (Jud. 20:11-14):

So all the men
of Israel gathered together at the city as allies. The tribes of Israel
sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “How could such a
wicked thing take place? Now, hand over the miscreants in Gibeah so we
can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness.” But the Benjamites
refused to listen to their Israelite brothers. The Benjamites came from
their cities and assembled at Gibeah to make war against the Israelites.

Benjamin
is a unifying force here as well, but not for good. They go from being a
tribe of Israel to an enemy of Israel, all in the name of sticking up
for Gibeah. In the ensuing civil war, tens of thousands are killed on
both sides, and Benjamin is almost exterminated.

This shows us the limits of ahdut, unity.
Yes, the Jewish people have survived for millennia by sticking
together. However, that value cannot undermine our basic commitment to
justice. Clearly, the Benjamites of Judges 20 thought that the abuse of
one woman was a trifling issue, to be ignored for the good of the whole.
But covering up episodes of sexual violence does not preserve a
society; it rots it from within. Justice, even for one individual, is
the concern of the entire society. Without it, what is the purpose of a
nation's survival at all?

If it relates to Jews, Judaism, holidays, Midrash,Torah, halacha or anything similar, I probably have a post on it. And if I have a post on it, I probably have a good comment thread with great reader-provided information, too.

Try a search and see for yourself. If you can't find what you're looking for ask me.

Quotes

רֹאשׁ דְּבָרְךָ אֱמֶת קוֹרֵא מֵרֹאשׁ דּוֹר וָדוֹר עַם דּוֹרֶשְׁךָ דְּרֹשׁ
Your chief word is "truth"; You've called it out since the beginning. In each generation people interpret You [for themselves] and find [their own] meaning.

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you odd. -Flannery O'Connor

“When in the afterglow of religious insight I can see a way that is good for all humans as it is for me—I will know it is His way.” - R. Abraham Joshua Heschel

I don't accept at all the quite popular argument that the press is responsible for the monarchy's recent troubles. The monarchy's responsible for the monarchy's recent troubles. To blame the press is the old thing of blaming the messenger for the message. -Anthony Holden

Said behind my back

"...he's trying to show that there are other facets to Orthodox Judaism. That we don't all think one way and vote one way. And he's occasionally entertaining when he's not being mean-spirited" [PsychoToddler]"

"He's witty. He's funny. He appreciates the ridiculous in life, and has no qualms about telling you when he thinks that you're being a moron" [Cara]

" I'm pretty sure [DovBear] is a really great guy who just wants to be able to ask questions and talk about things without the fear of someone claiming he's off the derech or on his way there." [Chaviva]